Draft-gear and buffing mechanism.



v H. T.y KRAKAU. DRAFT GEAR :AND BUFFINGMEGHANISM,

' PLIOATION FILED JUNE 17, 1907. f 900,023. ,u y Patented sept. 29, 1908.

4 sHEETs-SHBBT 1.

lwl-rlflrr'SSES l y Mm@ y liu H. Tr.. KRAKAU. DRAFTGEAR AND BUFFING MEGHANISM.

APPLIOATION FILED 'JUNE 1v, 190'?.

Patented Sept; 29, 1908.-

NEMEN UIYITNESSES H. T. KRAKAU. DRAFT GEAR AND BDFHNG MBDHANISM. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17T1D07 Patented sept. 29, `1908,

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

l I l l J I I l A* WITN ESSES v H. T. KRAKAU. DRAFT GEAR AND BUFFING MEGHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17, 19,07.

Patented sept. 29, 1908.

l4 SHEETS-SHEET 4'.

, www; rewmxfu, l Ms @11mg .avenants l UNITED STATES,

CGW', PATENT. OFFICE- HARRY T. KRAKAU', or CLEVELAND, `On1o, Ass`1er1\1Oa 'ro THE NA'r'IONA'L MALLEABLE oAsTiNes OOMPAmr,` lor CLEVELAND, Omo, A CORPORATION Oromo. I

DRAFT-GEAR AND BUnFrNe MncHANIsM,

To all whom 'it concern." ,1 Be it known that I, HARRY T. KRAKAln of" Cleveland, Cuyaho a county, Ohio, have invented anew an vuseful Draft-Gear and tion; Fi s. 3 and 4 aresectionalf detail viewsl on the hnes IIL-III 'and respec tiyely, of'F1g.1; Figf is a detailview partly in longitudinal section showing the manner of connecting the4 coupler to theextension shank, together with the plates by `which the coupler-is connected to the buil'er; f Fig. 6 is a i i side elevation vartly Vlongitudinal section on a larger sca e showing the'novel manner.

shan of carrying andsupporting the bufershank' and connecting it to the spring casing and to the coupler shank; Fig. 7 is ,'a" verticalcross section on the line VII-VII oFigf 8, is a detail plan view showing rthe b uierand its vcarry irons; Fig.9 is la vertical longitudinal section on the line IX--IX o f FigfS ;.Fig.` 10 is avv vertical longitudinalsection on, the line X--X of'Fig. 1, but on alarger scale,`f and Fig. 1'1 is a vertical cross section throu h the s ring casing of the.buiierand the coup er E extension, showing the manner of vtheir connection, the section.v Ibeing ibn the line XI-XI of Fig. 2.

The purpose. of my invention'is to provide` a. vdraft gear havin a radiallyy Iswinging coupler land a radia y swinging 'buiei-re-f lated so as to-Operatefto etherandtolafford:

and buHer cana-dap't themselves-tothemo# tion `of the v car truck `as itk passesl around-'- curves, and will `operatel properly under all;`

such conditions of use. I

The device is 'especially adapted for Vpas-1 1" senger cars and it `accomplishesthe desirefd,` results withgreat efficiency. and simplicity'of mechanism.:v f

` l2 represents the car coupler, whoseshank 3 has a long rearward extension 3 whichfmayf 'be made in one piece 'withjthemain-,portion of the shank, but is preferably a separate: iece and-:is connected? therewith` asShOwn in ig: 5, the extension 3 having'a socket 4 at its forward end ntowhich the couplershank 3 is fitted- 'lhissocket-has-opposite lateral ASpecification o!A Letters Patent. i '.Appuemongmea .nine 1v, 1907. seriamasvas'za tional or ot erwise, `may irons 10 which extend between the s1 recesses'inwhich connecting `plates 5 arev jiixed, 4preferably byr bolts l6 which pass "through theplates and through the socket vand the contained. .coupler shank. 'The lates extend upwardly and serve to give a' oating connection between vthe coupler shank and 'the plained below.

The' extension 3 at itsrear end is curved upwardly and is connected by a yoke or other suitable idevice 7 withv a draft rigging 8 set between the sills of the-car, and the cou ler kshank is also preferably rovided witv a vbuiferniechanism, as exvsliding socket 9, from whic guiding connecl tions 9 are extendedtothe truck in a manner` as heretofore known. These guiding connections are preferably made in theform .of telescopically iitted parts containin springs 9, and they are pivotally connecte atfQb and 9"4 to the socket 9 and to the truckl vtrame of thecar, respectively. `A tail-bolt may be substituted for' the lyoke 7 and any suitable Vfor of draft rig ing, Whether fricie employed at 8. The coupler'shankiis supported bcarryof the carandmaybe supported by vhangers 11.

The coupler shank jextensionf 'as a vertical pivot pin 12, which connects itf'to the yoke 7, so that'when the car is passing around curves .the .coupler and its shank will swing radially-on ,the axis of .the 'pin' :12 and will l constantlybe, kept thereby approximately 4at the `central portion ofthe railway track.

'13 is the lface plate-of the buffer, having a rearwardly extending. forked. shank formed fwi'th two'parallel arms 1 4, 14,'.as shown in Fgsand. 7.72 Betweenthese arms of the eiiicient meansby whic ,both thecouplQen buierextlends'u transverse carry-iron 15 which' is cunard-.as shown ii1s Fig.l 8, 'and is connectecliohe center sills l16 and intermed-iatcgsills'l-of 'the car, preferably in the d mannerf-shwnf--in Fig-1," being preferably ing isftransmitted directly to these sills and the sheering strainis removed from the rivets. "fThefront edge'` of the carry-iron 1 5 is sorelatedf to the rear bearing surface of the @buffer faceplate' as'to be e uidistant-from' all of the contactinpoints b,. sothat when: the,v

buffer is moved` ackto..:the ilimitof compression of the springs it willaengage atall points' the carryiron, and thus no at once wit transmit the stress thereto equally and regularly. i

The ,carry-iron 15 being secured firmly to the center sills is welladapted to vtake the-upward strain from the bu er and to provide a durable structure, whereas in constructions wherein the upward strain is transmitted to the underside of the platform end-sill, that sill is often not strong enough to resist it. Independently of its use as a carry-iron, the part is of value because by connecting the center-sills and receiving the stress from the :buffer it gives a strong construction. By thus transmitting the severe buffing strain to the carry-iron, it is taken up by a substantial part of the car frame and is so far forward relatively to the'bufer that there will be no substantial bending action u on the latter.

The rear end of the forke buffer shank is held by a spring casing 19, preferably made in two longitudinally divided parts connected by bolts 20, and the said shank has'at the outer surfaces of itsfarms 14, 14a sockets B -shown by full lines in Figs. 8 and 9 and by dotted lines in Fig. 6, to which pro'ections -c, lc' on the casing extend Iso that w en the lparts of the casingare held by the bolts they I will be clamped firmly and rigidly upon the arms ofthe buffer shank, a ller plece 19 being interposed between the arms. The contacting surface a ofthe spring casingL and f' v arm 14 are preferably tapered so that these parts will draw tightly together and make a rm union. The spring casing extends rearscopically over a rearuspring casing .2 1 which extends within the spring casing 19 and contains interposed buling spring mechanism which is compressed/Thy backward motion of The spring mechanism comprises preferably two springs 22 and 22, the spring 2 2a being an auxiliary. spring of less capacity than the Vmaiil spring 22, and being deslgned to exert a constant tension suflicient tol force the buffer and its shank outwardly and to. keep it in contact with the corresponding buffer of another car, even when the coupler shank is under draft and is drawn out 4to its full exn l tent. This s ring also' aids the main spring 22 in the wor of builingunder compression. The rear spring casing 21 has a rearward extension 21 '1 formed at lts end with a forked guide portion 21b which ts over a guiding segment 23. This segment is a stron frame preferabl --a.casting, which'is rivete at itsy ends to t e center sills 16 of the car so as to recelve the stress -of buffing. It is in line with and forms part of the end sill of the car vframe.

The engagement of thebufferwith the4 wardly from the buifer'shank, and fitstelethe buffer shank' and the spring casing 19. `mechanism in case the coupler or its shank as shown in Fig. 11, so as to ermit independent longitudinal motion of t e coupler shank and buffer. These lates 5 are referably provided with shoulr ers 24, 24', w lich serve respectively to supfport and confine the spring casing of the bu er; and the plates 5 bear a ainst shoulders 25 on the spring casing i s. 6 and 11) so as to transmit thereto the bung stresses which are applied to the coupler. This manner of engaging the coupler with the buffer by means of upwardly extending projections from the coupler constitutes a very strong and reliable device and transmits the stress to the buffer at its central portion. Like advantagesinthis regard are obtained by the forking of the arms 14, 14a of the buffer shank, for by using two such arms the buiiing stresses are applied uniformly to the front buffer plate at its top and bottom portions, and there is, therefore, no 85 bending moment thereof during the act of buing. This forking of the buffer shank enables me to elevate the osition of the buffer so as to bring its shan into line with the frame of the segment 23 and to apply the stress thereto centrally. The forking of the portion 21b sothat it forms an open socket engaging the segment is advantageous, as it enab es these parts to be easily separated for purposes of repair, all that is necessary to disconnect the buffer being to remove the plates 5, se arate' the parts of the spring cas mg 21, an to draw the buffermechanism forward from the segment.

For the purpose of taking up the wear, I preferl to provi e a wear plate 26 between the se ment 23 and e socket 21h.

0 provide means by which the 'draft of the cars can be transmitted to the bufling should break, I appl safety chains'27 to the chains will take the stress of draft of the cars and, transmitting it to the buffer, will draw the spring casing 22 forwardly until it engages therear of the carry-iron 15 to which the draft is thus transmitted. This constitutes a novel and very efficient safety device.l

.Within the scope of my invention as defined in the claims, the parts of the apparatus may be modified in various ways, since What I claim isz' i l 1. A. laterally swinging draft member mounted for longitudinal movement in buil"-` ing and draft, and a laterally swinging buf-` fer mounted above the draft member on an independent support, and engaged with the draft member by a sliding connection which enlgages the sides of the bufng mechanism, su stantially as described.

2. A laterally swinging draft member mounted for longitudinal movement in buffing and draft, and a laterally swinging buffer mounted above the draft member onan independent support and engaged with the draft member by a sliding connection which gagedl therewith by a connection which en-A .ing andvdraft, and a laterally'swinging buffer mounted above the draft-member andengages the sides of the builing mechanism, said connection havinga rear'. bearing against -the buffer and being free to move inde endently on its forward side; substantia y, as described.

4. A laterally swinging Tz-shaped buffer having its transverse member rigid with the shank and adapted to engage a correspond- 1n member on the rbuffer of another car to hdld the buifer's in alinement, in connection with a carry-iron onwhich it can move laterally and longitudinally, said buifer having arms extending above andLbelow thecarry- .ing a coupler shank and a rearward eXten- 'sion, one of said parts being formed with a ing and draft, a buffer, ing the draft-member socket andl the other part extending into4 the socket, connecting pieces extending from said socket to a bu'er, and means by which the connecting pieces, socket and .shank are held together; substantiallyA as described.`

8. A 'laterally swinging' draft-member mounted `lor longitudinal movement in buand means for engagrismg upward projections having supportiiig portions for the buiier and adapted'to permit independent rear movement of the butler and. transmitting rear movement .of the draft member to. the buffer spring,- substantiallfv as described.

. 9. A laterally swinging ldraft-member draft member,

with Vthe butler,` commounted for longitudinal movement in buiing and draft, a buffer, and means for engaging the draft-member with the buffer comprlsing upward projections having support-' ing portions for the buffer and adapted to permit-independent and conjoint longitudinal-motions between the draft-'member and the buffer, said suptporting portions engaging the spring casing o' the builer; substantially as described.

10. A carry iron having a front convex edge constituting a buffer bearing surface, and 'providedv at each end with'a shoulder having a rearl face for engagement with the end of a center sill, substantially as described.

. 11. The combination .of a buiier and its springs-and a carry-iron for thebuiier, said carry-iron-being adapted to resist back motion of the buiier and to take up the buffing strain only at the limit of compression of the springs; substantially as described. 12. A buHer in combination with longitudinal sills and a connection between-the sills and in `advance of the buffer springs against which the buer abuts at the end of its rearward motion; substantially as described. 1 j

. 13. A T-sha ed buer having its transverse member llield rigidly at right angles to its shank and, constructed to engage the transverse member of an opposing buil'er and maintain the Shanks in alinement, said shank having a slot closed at its front end and open at its rear end to pass over a carry iron, substantially as described.

14.` A buffer spring case constituted .of telescopically fitted parts, the front part havinternal projections to fit sockets in a buffer shank, and being divided longitudinally for attachment to a buffer shank.

15. A buffer carry-iron extending transversely of the car frame back of the front endof the platform and adapted vto receive the .bufling stress from the buffer only at the end of its spring compression; substantially as described.

16. A coupler. shank havin lateral verti- Acal recesses for rece tion of uifer-connection plates; substantially as described.

, In testimonywhereof, I have. hereunto set my hand.

. HARRY T. KRAKAU.

' Witnesses:

GEORGE H. SoNNEBonN A. E. WALLACE. 

